TESTING THE FAITH

Bible by hand: Copying King James, word for word

'I sit and write and my mind expands and expands and expands'

Published: 12/28/2011 at 2:13 AM

(WALL STREET JOURNAL) — Phillip Patterson has spent the last four years laboring on a project more typical of medieval monks than this era of 140-character bleats. He is transcribing the King James Bible by hand, all 921,820 words of it.

Working on sheets of oversized ivory paper, writing in a careful cursive traced in black ink, the 61-year-old scribe is about three-quarters of the way to the final verse, Revelation 22:21: “The grace of our lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”